arly daybreak.

When I awoke, the sun was far above the waves. I breakfasted upon my
newly tasted fruit, and resumed my journey toward the mountains in the
west. An hour's walk brought me to the spot where I first saw the
inhabitants of the island. I shall never forget a single feature of that
landscape. The mingled delight at seeing them, and astonishment after
looking a few moments at them, have photographed the whole surrounding
scene to its minutest details indelibly upon my memory. I had ascended a
little eminence in the principal valley of a brook, (which I had been
following nearly from its outlet,) when suddenly the mountains, of which
I had lost sight for a time, rose up before me in sublime strength, no
longer of translucent purple, but revealing, under the direct light,
their rugged solidity. On my right, in the foreground, were lofty black
cliffs, made darker by being seen lying in their own shadow. On my left,
green hills, in varying forms, stretched almost an interminable
distance, varying also in their color and depth of shade. At the foot of
the cliffs, in full sight, but too distant to be distinctly heard, the
brook leaped along its rocky bed in a succession of scrambling
cataracts, until it was in a perfect foam with the exertion. I sat upon
a stone, gazing upon this valley, calmed, soothed, charmed with its
beauty, and was speculating upon the cause of the ruddy purplish hue
which I still noticed in the landscape, as I had the day before, when I
heard a choir of half a dozen voices, apparently on the nearest cliff,
joining in a Haydn-like hymn of praise. I drew nearer to the spot, and
soon satisfied myself that all the sounds proceeded from one man sitting
alone on a projecting rock. I listened to him attentively, vainly
endeavoring to imagine how he produced such a volume of sounds, and
delighted with the beautiful melody and exquisite harmony of his
polyphonous song. When he ceased to sing, I stepped out in front of him
and hailed him with a hearty "Good morning!" What was my astonishment to
see him instantly unfurl a prodigious pair of wings, and fly off the
rock. Hovering over me for a little while, evidently as much astonished
at me as I at him, he flew away, and presently returned with a
companion. They alighted near me, and began, as I thought, to sing, but
in a very fragmentary way. I afterwards found that they were in
conversation. I spoke to them, and, concealing my fears, endeavored by
vari